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Friday, October 22, 2010

Children of Daicon

I'm sure anyone who's into anime has heard of Gainax, the studio behind Evangelion, FLCL, Gurren Lagaan, and many other shows. Eventually, if you spend enough time around otaku, you'll get pointed back towards either Otaku no Video, which is Gainax's "autobiography" of their history as a company (with a few modifications for entertainment value), or directly to the Daicon IV animation, which was the second of two shorts they did as college kids for a convention, using 35mm cameras and animation cels (the process of which is shown in OnV). If you haven't seen it, look here:

For a couple of people not even in the industry, not even having access to anything more than the base necessities, it's truly amazing. A great piece of history, showing the beginning of what would become one of the biggest names in the industry.

However, even for those who know about this, this blog post isn't about that. It's something you have to see to truly appreciate "The Children of Daicon", an AMV tribute to the above video. The gist of the video is basically a musical version of Otaku no Video from the start of the company to today condensed to fit the length of ELO's Twilight, the same song used in the original video. Using clips of almost every show they've ever done, it's really a trip down memory lane if you've seen a lot of their shows. Seeing clips from FLCL and Eva next to OnV and Wings of Honneamise, it's really pretty awesome.

This like this always hit a spot with me. I really enjoy looking back at things that came before my time, whether it be 50's or 60's rock and roll, 70's or 80's anime/manga, or even Atari or Intellivision games something about old classics hits a chord with me. A video like this, then, is right up my alley, showing off anime across generations, even if it is one company's stuff, you can really see how things have changed. being so short, it can't be very in depth, but it's got a similar spirit to Otaku no Video, which is what I think really makes it special.